Australia's LGBTQIA+ Festival Circuit

Have you thought about touring your Midsumma show? Australia's circuit of quality LGBTQIA+ festivals provides a unique opportunity to tour the country. It's also a great opportunity for audiences to travel while sampling a diverse and eclectic range of events along the way. Volunteering for the various festivals is a great way to make new friends too!

Broken Heel Festival (NSW): 13 - 15 Sep 2019The Broken Heel Festival is a fabulous three day festival which celebrates the theatrical anniversary of "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" at her spiritual home, The Palace Hotel and the township of Broken Hill.

Frolic Festival (Vic): 8 - 14 Nov 2018 Frolic is a not-for-profit festival run by a small team of like-minded Ballaratians who want to support and show off the wonderful diversity of the region – and have lots of fun doing it.

TasPride Festival (Tas): 18 - 27 January 2019 TasPride began in 1992 and continue to be dedicated to celebrating, uniting and promoting the Tasmanian Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer community, through providing opportunities for everyone to come together and share our pride.

PrideFest (WA): 3 - 25 Nov 2018 Pride Western Australia is WA's largest community group, representing the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex community. Originally incorporated in 1993, its roots go back to the 1989 march on Parliament. PrideFest kicks off with a Parade and Celebration in November.

Feast Festival (SA): 10 - 25 Nov 2018 Feast has grown since 1997 from a community arts festival for the lesbian and gay community in Adelaide to become a major event on the festival calendar in South Australia.

Out in the Open (Vic): 1 - 4 Nov 2018 OUTintheOPEN is Shepparton's newest festival celebrating community diversity. It was developed to address some of the inequalities faced by the local gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer (GLBTIQ) & allied communities and to build a more inclusive community in Greater Shepparton.

Tropical Fruits (Lismore, NSW): 27 Dec - 3 Jan annually Established in 1988, Tropical Fruits Inc. is the premier GLBTI community group of the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. They hold regular events throughout the year. The NYE Festival is a four-day celebration of the GLBTI community, with a CBD Parade, NYE Party, Pool Party and Recovery Party.

Midsumma Festival (Vic): 19 Jan - 10 Feb 2019 Midsumma has been Melbourne's annual Queer Celebration since 1988 - with a smorgasbord of queer arts and cultural events spread over more than 85 different venues throughout Melbourne and Regional Victoria.

Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras (NSW): 15 Feb - 3 Mar 2019 SGLMG has existed since 1978 primarily for the benefit of Sydney's LGBTQI community, the enjoyment of a wider audience and as a global beacon of diversity, acceptance and LGBTQI rights. It includes the iconic Parade and the Queer Screen queer film festival.

tilde film festival (Vic): 8 - 11 Nov 2018 Established in 2014, tilde is a community-based, international film festival based in Melbourne, and one of a handful of trans and gender diverse (TGD) film festivals in the world.

Pride WA Fairday (WA) Stalls and community entertainment, including the much-loved dog show.

ChillOut Festival (Daylesford) (Vic): 7 - 11 Mar 2019 Held on the Labour Day Weekend in early March, the ChillOut Festival in Daylesford, one hour north of Melbourne, is one of the largest and longest-running Queer Pride events in regional Australia.

Melbourne Queer Film Festival (Vic): 14 - 25 Mar 2019 Held over 11 days in late March, MQFF is the largest and longest running queer film festival in Australia, screening the best Australian and International queer films, shorts and documentaries.

Bendigo Queer Film Festival (Vic): 12 - 14 Apr 2019 The Bendigo Queer Film Festival has been running since 2004, when it was founded by Chris Walters in collaboration with the Melbourne Queer Film Festival (who remain major supporters). Queer Country: 28 Mar - 14 Apr 2019

Southern HiBearnation (Vic): 10 - 16 June 2019 Kicking off from the Queen's Birthday Weekend in June, VicBears Southern Hibearnation brings together bears and their buddies from all over the planet for the largest and friendliest bear FUNdraising event in the South!

Our Allies

In addition, a number of other Australian festivals are extremely queer-friendly. For example:

Melbourne Cabaret Festival: 19 - 30 Jun 2019 Since its inauguration in 2010, the Melbourne Cabaret Festival has grown to become an iconic Melbourne event much loved by audiences and performers alike.

Melbourne International Comedy Festival: 27 Mar - 21 Apr 2019 The Melbourne International Comedy Festival, one of the three largest comedy festivals in the world, alongside Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Montreal's Just for Laughs Festival, always has a plethora of queer performers and queer-themed events.